Eclipses

What it does

Lists upcoming lunar and solar eclipses and shows whether each one is visible from your location. A simulation of the selected eclipse sits at the top of the screen.

What you need

A location, set with the location picker at the top of the screen. Without one, the lists still show every eclipse, but not whether you can see it. The eclipse data is built into the app, so the lists and simulations do not need a network connection.

How to use it

1. Set your location with the picker at the top.
2. In Eclipse Type, choose Lunar or Solar. The screen opens on Lunar.
3. Browse Upcoming Eclipses (up to six, each kept on the list until it ends) or All Eclipses (the full reference list).
4. The Eclipse Simulation card under Eclipse Type shows the next upcoming eclipse of the chosen type. Tap any eclipse in the lists to show it there instead; the screen scrolls back up to the simulation.
5. In the simulation, drag the slider or press play to move through time. Choose Slow, Normal, or Fast for the playback speed.

Reading the results

• Eye icon on a row: an open eye means visible from your location, a crossed-out eye means not visible. With no location set, there is no icon.
• Lunar rows: show type (Penumbral, Partial, Total), date, time at your location, and magnitude. A lunar eclipse counts as visible when any part of it falls during night at your location (the umbral part, or the whole eclipse for a penumbral one).
• Solar rows: show the global type and date. With a location set, they show what you would see there and its magnitude, or "Not visible". When the Sun stays below the horizon for the whole eclipse at your location, the row says "Not visible (Sun below the horizon)".
• Simulation: it defaults to the next upcoming eclipse and resets to that when you switch between Lunar and Solar. If there is no upcoming eclipse of that type in the app's data, the card says so.
• Lunar simulation: the Moon crossing Earth's shadow, with a Right Now card (phase, umbral and penumbral magnitude) and Contact Times in UTC. Tap a contact time to jump to it.
• Solar simulation: the Moon crossing the Sun as seen from your location, with Right Now (phase, percent of the Sun covered, Sun altitude), At Your Location (magnitude, obscuration, duration of totality or annularity), and Contact Times.
• Not visible where you are: the solar simulation always draws. With no location set, when the eclipse does not reach you, or when the Sun stays below the horizon the whole time, it shows the eclipse from where it is deepest instead, and At Your Location reads No location set, Not visible from your location, or Sun below the horizon here.

Live Activity countdown

The Live Activity card sits under the simulation and follows the chosen type: the next lunar eclipse or the next solar eclipse you can see from your location. Under Count down to, choose Start, Greatest (the moment of greatest eclipse), or Chain (each stage in turn, including totality or annularity if you are in the path of a solar eclipse). Start is available once the first stage is less than 8 hours away; until then the card tells you when. It is part of Pro and only on iPhone. Tap Start countdown to put it on your Lock Screen, and in the Dynamic Island on iPhones that have one. On the Free plan the button reads Start countdown (Pro) and opens the upgrade screen. Tap Stop countdown to end it. Changing a choice while it runs restarts it with the new choice. It only starts when you tap Start with the app open, replaces any other countdown that is running, and iOS ends it after about 8 hours. Settings, Notifications, Live Activities shows what is running and lets you stop it.

Tips

• Solar eclipses are only total or annular along a narrow path, so most places see a partial eclipse or nothing.
• In Night Vision, the solar simulation is drawn in red.
• Never look at the Sun without proper eclipse glasses.